Jiang Minghuang's Confidence

Everyone soon had their answer.

Because the Young Heavenly Emperor in the scene made his choice almost without hesitation.

He stood in the courtyard.

The cold wind seemed capable of sweeping away his frail body, yet his eyes held an unprecedented chill and resolve.

Gu Changqing picked up the wood-chopping knife from the yard.

He knocked the door open.

Before the middle-aged man could even look shocked, a flash of cold light came at him.

The shrill wail of a middle-aged woman rang out from inside.

But it had only just begun before it was snuffed out.

"You want to eat my sister?"

Inside the house, Gu Changqing looked at the child his own age before him, expressionless. "Then I'll kill you."

Words as cold as frost came from the Young Heavenly Emperor's mouth.

"There are only the two of us left in the whole village. I'm your brother. I have to protect you."

In the blood-reeking room, the Young Heavenly Emperor stood amid a pool of blood, gazing at the infant beneath the quilt as he murmured to himself.

"I'm sorry. I won't abandon you again."

He picked up the swaddled infant.

He set the wooden house ablaze, then ran into the mountains without once looking back.

Throughout the entire process.

There was not a trace of fear in the Young Heavenly Emperor's expression. There was only a calmness so unnerving it made one's hair stand on end.

At this moment.

Everyone outside the scene was stunned.

The entire venue fell silent!

No one had expected Gu Changqing to choose to wipe out his uncle's entire family directly.

Was that something a five-year-old child could do?

Murder!

This was not killing chickens or dogs! How much courage did that require?!

"Perhaps it was from this moment onward that he gradually became that cold-blooded, heartless Heavenly Emperor," many people sighed.

Anyone could sense the change in Gu Changqing.

When facing that Giant Leopard in the past, he had trembled from head to toe in fright. Yet now, throughout the whole ordeal, he was so composed it was terrifying.

"The Heavenly Emperor truly had nothing to be criticized for in how he treated Miss Youwei in his youth."

Many people fell silent.

Just to kill someone for the sake of a sister unrelated by blood—heaven knew how much courage that boy had needed.

If Gu Changqing's care for Gu Youwei before had merely been a sense of responsibility.

Then now, it was protection without hesitation or retreat.

Gu Youwei stood there dazed for a long while, her gaze incomparably complicated.

"Was it because of me that you gradually became so heartless...?"

Ye Chen noticed Gu Youwei's unusual state and said softly, "If it were me, I would do the same. But I would never become as cold-blooded and heartless as the Heavenly Emperor."

Yet this time, the emotion in Gu Youwei's eyes did not fade.

In the scene, Gu Changqing was still racing deeper into the mountains.

A cultivator asked in confusion, "The mountains are fraught with extreme danger. Why does he insist on going deeper in? Wouldn't he have a better chance of surviving if he stayed in a mortal village?"

Someone answered, "His parents were slaughtered, and the child he picked up from a pile of corpses was about to be used as food. If it were you, would you still think a mortal village was safe?"

"At this moment, he is like a bird startled by the mere twang of a bowstring. Deep down, he must be utterly disappointed in human nature!"

At that moment, another cultivator asked, "But when the Heavenly Emperor ruled, didn't he establish the rule that cultivators were not permitted to slaughter mortals at will? Why would he protect mortals?"

Everyone fell silent. No one had an answer.

Given the Young Heavenly Emperor's present experiences, along with the Heavenly Emperor's vicious temperament after ascending the throne, it was indeed an immense contradiction.

In the scene, Gu Changqing returned to the cave he had entered the mountains through for the first time.

Yet he did not enter. Instead, at the ground around the cave entrance, he searched for something.

The infant in his arms seemed to be hungry again.

He kept crying without stopping.

"What is he looking for?"

"Probably food a baby can eat."

"The only things a baby can eat are the porridge paste found in mortal households and milk. Where would one find such things in these mountains and forests?"

The crowd discussed it, unable to make head or tail of the Young Heavenly Emperor's actions.

Just then, Jiang Minghuang suddenly spoke. "He should be looking for that leopard."

"The leopard?"

Everyone was stunned.

Jiang Minghuang explained, "That leopard should be a mother leopard—a mother leopard with milk."

"How do you know?"

Jiang Minghuang shook his head. "I don't know. But I know the Heavenly Emperor knows. His thoughts have always been meticulous; small details often cannot escape his eyes."

Everyone looked astonished.

"Emperor Jiang, aren't you making it sound a little too miraculous? Even we did not notice whether that leopard had milk. How could the Young Heavenly Emperor, who had been dealing with the Giant Leopard in an emergency, possibly know?"

"The Heavenly Emperor may indeed be meticulous, but he is only five years old now. How could he be that extraordinary?"

Many people agreed with this.

What Jiang Minghuang had said was simply too unbelievable.

What was more, when he had felled the Giant Leopard, the Young Heavenly Emperor had clearly looked terribly frightened.

Someone continued, "Even if he noticed those details and knew it was a mother leopard, what right does he have to ask her for milk?"

"Ferocious beasts are wild and unruly, let alone one that has gained intelligence. The Heavenly Emperor may have driven back the Giant Leopard, but forcing her to hand over her milk? That is far too fantastical."

The crowd burst into laughter.

Jiang Minghuang pressed his lips together and did not explain further.

After dissolving Cao Yuwei's attack this time, Mei Gongzi did not hurry to counterattack. She merely stood still where she was.

Cao Yuwei's brows furrowed slightly. Was this little girl's perception truly so acute? After he had formed armor from flames, he still had other methods at his disposal. If Mei Gongzi had followed up with an attack, he was confident he could use that method to restrain her. Yet she had not advanced, forcing the ability he had been holding in readiness to be cut off.

The battle blade slashed out once more, its powerful blade intent several degrees stronger than before. Cao Yuwei moved with the blade, man and blade as one, charging straight at Mei Gongzi.

The Heavenly Secret Plume in Mei Gongzi's hand once again formed the Heavenly Mysterious Circle, and with an instant teleportation, she switched positions. While dissolving her opponent's attack, she also broke his lock-on. The next instant, she was already on the other side. A golden-red gleam flashed across Cao Yuwei's body; had she not dodged quickly, another ability would undoubtedly have descended upon her.

A battle of attrition! She seemed intent on competing with Cao Yuwei in endurance.

Yet no one questioned the origin of this ability. After all, the Peacock Demon Race's greatest innate gift was Stellar Transposition. Her technique bore the same wondrous resemblance to Stellar Transposition.

After dissolving Cao Yuwei's attack this time, Mei Gongzi did not hurry to counterattack. She merely stood still where she was.

Cao Yuwei's brows furrowed slightly. Was this little girl's perception truly so acute? After he had formed armor from flames, he still had other methods at his disposal. If Mei Gongzi had followed up with an attack, he was confident he could use that method to restrain her. Yet she had not advanced, forcing the ability he had been holding in readiness to be cut off.

The battle blade slashed out once more, its powerful blade intent several degrees stronger than before. Cao Yuwei moved with the blade, man and blade as one, charging straight at Mei Gongzi.

The Heavenly Secret Plume in Mei Gongzi's hand once again formed the Heavenly Mysterious Circle, and with an instant teleportation, she switched positions. While dissolving her opponent's attack, she also broke his lock-on. The next instant, she was already on the other side. A golden-red gleam flashed across Cao Yuwei's body; had she not dodged quickly, another ability would undoubtedly have descended upon her.

A battle of attrition! She seemed intent on competing with Cao Yuwei in endurance.